Busy week

What a busy week this has been for the Munro household.  For starters, we would like to welcome Decoy to the fold.

He is a 9 week old broken coat Jack Russell Terrier.  He already loves to play fetch and tug.  Taz is not fond of him yet but we are working on it!  Taz definitely likes Decoy's back end instead of his eyes.  Every day we see Taz accepting him more and more.  Decoy is going to be my next flyball star.  Taz is going to be a very long work in progress and Pepper is going to be 5 years old this year.  Riki and Rebel are curious as to what he is exactly.  Gizmo started off being not fond (hissing, growling, swatting) and now he is absolutely fine with him.

Taz had his first private lesson with Shirley last night.  We had decided at the end of the last set that working in a class setting was not working for him.  There is sooo much for him to learn, that will take awhile and is better suited one on one.  Collection and extension.  Taz only knows about extension.  He only knows one speed... super sonic.  Last night he learnt how to read my collection queues and my extension clues.  By golly, I saw my boy actually think!!!  It was amazing!  I would rather see him go slower and think about what he is being asked to do, than blast through everything doing his own thing.

One thing became clear though.  He has never learned how to jump properly.  He thinks about jumping two jumps instead of one.  He usually takes off about 5 feet in front of a jump instead of collecting to take off nicely.  We had quite a few quiet jumps last night.  It was awesome to see him think about where he needed to take off from.  I was able to put him in extension and then to collection on the next jump!

Then we decided to push the envelope,,,, We had two jumps in front of a tunnel.  Let me tell you one thing.... Taz LOVES the tunnel.  I asked him to collect over one jump in front of the tunnel, instead of taking the tunnel..... he took the jump, went a few feet (cause he was thinking) and turned right into me!!!!  He made the correct choice and got a jackpot!  I thought for sure he was going to take that tunnel.  Nope!  He proved to me over and over, that he was understanding collection.  For a bonus, I put him into extension into the tunnel and he barked going in!  Needless to say he was happy to get a chance at the tunnel and got to repeat it.

We have a long way to go but now I see that Taz can really think.  This should help his anxiety in the long run.  Stay tuned for more tails!

One step forward... two steps back

Tonight was Taz' agility class and it was frustrating!  Give him a straight line to a tunnel and he can do it.  Give him a pinwheel with a tunnel right next, not a chance in hell!  Straight to the tunnel he goes! Talking with Shirley, our game plan is one on one now.  Lots of collection and extension exercises with one to two jumps.  Lots and lots of proofing with tunnels around.  He has to learn that I am here to play the game with him and it is waaaay more fun that way!  Our new goal is to trial by September 2012.  With plenty of hard work, I know we can get there.  I will be building a travel plank with a slant so that we can teach the proper contact position for both dogs.

I will give Taz credit tonight though.  He did try three times to stick the landing at the bottom of the dog walk.  He tried very hard!  He even skidded down the dog walk to do so.  When we do more work with it, I will have to put out the "bumpers" to keep him straight to teach him the proper position for take-offs.

Speaking of collection, I brought in a set of jumps to do some work on "collection to collection" for Taz.  Smart little boy knows exactly what I am asking for.  I also brought out the clicker to mark positioning.  He did it flawlessly!  Now why the HELL can't we get that at class?  I told Ken that we are going to get rid of the pool table so I can have my indoor agility field!  Sha like that will happen.

First tournament of the season

We just got back yesterday from the first flyball tournament of the year.  Diamonds in the Ruff travelled to Edmonton for the Northern Power Paws tournament.  We got some awesome passes in, just showing how much we have practiced over the winter.  I got to run Dash as well when Pepper sat out for a race.  It is definitely interesting running a dog that really knows his job!  When he gets in the lane, you barely have to touch him but you do have to say "Go" otherwise he will just look at you!  The team had a sub 20 second run on Saturday. 

Taz spent the weekend baching it with Ken.  It was good for him to have a stress free weekend.  No agility or flyball for him!  No flyball this coming weekend either so that will leave more training time for him at home.  We have lots to work on and just picked up a book on flatwork for agility.  I have many plans for Taz and training which really should be put down in a journal so I don't forget.

This coming year looks to be very busy for both agility and flyball.  We shall be attending one seminar for each sport this year.  There is a regional agility trial in Saskatchewan that we plan on attending.  It would be awesome to try for Nationals.  I know we are not ready but hey, while it is close to home, why not participate?!?!

Busy busy busy!

December turned out to be very busy for the Munro household.  With all the agility and flyball classes, the saying you can sleep when you are dead rings true!  Taz was given the opportunity to run a full course at Ebon Stables for the "last class before Christmas" event.  I must say he sure did surprise me!  He was able to work at least 20 feet away from me for a series of jumps.  We do not yet have collection with motion but that will come with more practice.  He continues to make great strides being non-reactive during agility class.  I always ensure he gets the chance for a break.  Working for an hour with him sure tires him out!!  He continues to progress in flyball as well.  Today, he actually initiated contact with two male club members!  He was also composed while being handling by another male member who wears a ball cap.  We have been working hard at him going past a stationary dog next to the racing lane without making a peep.  I have figured out that the tuggie must stay up until he is right next to me otherwise he growls at the tug.  This can be mistaken for him growling at another dog, which we do not want to happen!  The clicker has come out quite often to mark all the positive behaviours from him.  For a dog who had issues with children, he was quite close to Kade without any issues today.  I am still very vigilant but wholely believe that his allergies tend to make him uber grumpy and not wanting to deal with anyone/anything.  Taz now takes a 24 hour allergy pill every day.  I believe it is truely making a difference!

Pepper has enjoyed the time off around Christmas.  She gets to lounge around and just relax!  With moving to a new house, there has been enough excitement for a couple of weeks for her.  I think she is happy to back to practices.  She does enjoy flyball!  Today she decided to bark at Rudy when he snuck up on her in the other lane.  It sounded like "holy shit.... where did you come from?  You aren't going to pass me.... no no no.... no passing me!"

Riki and Rebel are enjoying the new house as well.  There are plenty of ledges and areas to get into that they really shouldn't.  They are both still making great strides!  Each morning they love getting scratchies.  They both have a unique purr and meow!  They love to play with Gizmo and can be heard running around at night.  Riki actually likes Taz for the most part.  He will come up to Taz and give him a little rub under the chin.  The more Taz does not chase them, the more relaxed they are around him.  We work hard at Taz not chasing the foster kitties in the mornings.

Gizmo had a bit of an accident on moving day which has resulted in one and a half inches of his tail being amputated.  He is now sporting a lovely green bandage for two weeks.  The vet said that he cut it on something and it was not a cat fight.  Thank God it was not a cat fight!!  His new nickname is Stumpy and Short Stuff.  I have not seen the shorter tail cause any problems for him of late.  He still has the same balance as before.  It is just less tail to get caught in a door!

This year will prove to be just as busy with trials and tournaments as last year!  We wish everyone a Happy New Year and good luck for all our trialing friends!